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Fact check: What is the average daily cost of housing an undocumented immigrant in the US?
Executive Summary
The data assembled shows there is no single “average daily cost” for housing an undocumented immigrant in the United States; costs depend on context: federal immigration detention typically ranges from about $165 to $187 per person per day, while Alternatives to Detention (ATD) and community supervision programs run under $4.20 to roughly $14 per person per day, and city-run shelter responses for asylum-seekers can reach $156–$400 per person per day depending on location and services. These figures reflect distinct budgets, missions, and accounting methods—detention budgets cover secure custody and facility operations, ATD covers monitoring and case management, and municipal shelter costs include hotel per diems and broader social services—so cross-comparisons require careful qualification [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the public claims and data actually state — key figures pulled into one place
Multiple recent sources converge on consistent but varied headline numbers: ICE and analyses report daily detention costs around $164–$187 per adult, with ICE’s Fiscal Year 2023 figure cited at $187.48 per adult per bed per day and AILA quoting a projected daily detention average of $164.65 [2] [1]. By contrast, ICE’s ATD programs—specifically Intensive Supervision (ISAP) and technology-assisted case management—show per-participant daily costs below $4.20 in ICE statements and analyses, with other estimates of community-based case management nearer $8–$14 per day depending on program scope [3] [1]. New York City reporting and audits present yet another set of figures: the city’s shelter and hotel response for asylum-seekers generated per-person daily costs from $156 for HANYC hotel per diems to combined service totals near $332, and media reporting later cited averages near $370–$400, demonstrating large municipal fiscal burdens that differ from federal detention accounting [4] [5] [6].
2. Why detention is more expensive — operational and accounting explanations
Detention costs include secure facility operation, medical care, security staffing, food services, utilities, and overhead that do not apply to community supervision, which drives the higher per-diem figures reported by ICE and watchdogs. ICE’s published daily-cost estimates emphasize per-bed expenditures across a detention network and note that geographic variation, facility type, and population levels affect averages; a fiscal-year aggregate calculation produced the $187.48 figure for adults in FY2023 [2]. Proponents of detention cite public-safety and removal logistics as rationales for higher costs, while critics point to the availability of lower-cost ATD and community programs that can achieve compliance at a fraction of the price; these competing framings reflect different policy priorities—secure confinement versus supervised-release strategies—which should inform any cost comparison [2] [3].
3. Why Alternatives to Detention (ATD) look far cheaper on paper, and their trade-offs
ICE and program analyses report ATD per-participant costs under $4.20 per day, with intensive case management programs like ISAP sometimes estimated around $8–$14 per day, reflecting lower overhead because costs are dominated by technology, monitoring, and caseworker time rather than facility operations [3] [1]. ATD proponents emphasize cost savings and comparable compliance rates for many populations; opponents highlight potential differences in enforcement capability, risks to community safety, and legal or political objections to noncustodial supervision. Evaluations vary by program design—technology-only monitoring is cheaper than high-touch case management—so the dollar figures represent a spectrum of service models rather than a single, universal ATD cost [3] [1].
4. Municipal shelter costs tell a different story — New York City as a case study
City-level responses to asylum flows create yet another cost structure: New York City audits and reporting show hotel per-diem rates near $156 and combined per-person daily costs for asylum services reaching $332 to $400, driven by rising commercial rents, emergency hotel contracting, multiple support services, and large caseloads [4] [6] [5]. These municipal costs are not directly comparable to federal detention or ATD numbers because they bundle housing, social services, case processing, and long-term shelter management; local political debates frequently frame these figures to argue for federal reimbursement or policy changes, so reported totals can reflect both accounting realities and advocacy aims on funding burdens [5] [4].
5. The big-picture takeaway and where further nuance matters
The single most important takeaway is that “average daily cost” depends on the institutional context—detention, ATD, or municipal shelter—and each uses different budget lines and serves different functions, so comparing the raw dollar amounts without context can mislead policymakers and the public. Analysts should disaggregate costs into categories—facility operations, monitoring technology, case management, transport, and social services—and track date-stamped, jurisdiction-specific estimates when evaluating policy alternatives; the figures from 2023–2025 cited above reflect consistent patterns but also notable geographic and programmatic variance that matters for fiscal and human outcomes [2] [3] [6].